Part 2: Bond of Brothers
by LikeIdTellU
Summary: Legolas, newly rescued from Gol Guldur, must now adjust to life outside the dark tower. However, healing is not made easy when the rift between father and son divides the family and creates a rift between Vanriel's child and Ithilwen's children. -discontinued-
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

**Trapped I am in the endless night,**

**Agony is barely held at bay,**

**As I trudge along in the endless rain,**

**Forgotten am I in the mists of time,**

**Oh woe is me for I cannot see the light!**

_Cold, so cold and yet…so hot…so dark._

_Moving shapes swirl, darker then the darkness. They grasp for me…but fall short of reaching._

_I am no longer there for I know the difference…but if I am not there then where can I be?_

_I am trapped under something heavy, yet almost soft in quality and…Ai! It burns. The heat. I am trapped! There is no way out for my eyes are open yet I cannot see!_

_Why wont they help me?_

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter one

The elf slipped into the small chamber adjacent to the healing ward, silent as a wraith on his bare feet. The healer looked up, her pretty face lighting up with a small smile as she recognised the figure. Without another word, she got up and left.

Doron sat heavily on the chair the elleth had just vacated, looking upon the small body tucked neatly underneath the heavy quilt. The years imprisoned had taken their toll on Legolas, the elfling's growth having been stunted by the lack of light and malnutrition. Various wounds had been discovered by the healers, varying from relatively harmless to critical, like the burned hand and slit throat the child had suffered during the assault on Dol Guldur. All had been cleaned and bathed, the healers working deep into the night to save the little ones life.

And yet he would not wake up…

The Healers called it a coma, Doron called it a curse. Oh how he wished his little brother to open his eyes! How he longed to find out what damage had been done to that mind so that he could do his best to heal it. The Healers told him to wait, that it took time for a coma to lift, but it would speed progress mightily if Legolas's loved ones took the time to visit him everyday and talk.

At first Doron had felt stupid talking to an elf who could not respond, but soon he had grown used to it. If he was completely honest with himself, Doron found these conversations with his silent brother to be soothing, a way of escaping from his Adar and Edwen Nanneth [second mother]. He hated their happiness as it seemed like a betrayal to his beloved Nana. But most of all he hated that his Adar was in denial, he did not even go to visit his youngest son, leaving Doron and Legolas alone and favouring his new women and unborn child.

Oh how Doron wished Legolas would awaken! So he could tell his little brother how much he had missed his tiny shadow.

"Mae govvanon bratling", Doron said cheerfully, enclosing one pale and lifeless hand in his warm one. "You will never guess what happened today! As usual Adar made me attend a dull counsel meeting in his own stead while he picnicked with Vanriel. But of course that's not the exciting part! The excitement came later after the council adjourned and I went swimming in the river. The water was so cool and refreshing, and I can't wait till you wake up so I can take you there myself. It is beautiful, little leaf, you will love it. I dived under the surface of the water and lo and behold I found this". Doron extracted a water smooth pebble from his pocket with a flourish. The stone was circular and black, but when he held it up to the light oh how it shone. Red, blue, white and pale gold. No trace of the black to be found. It could indeed rival the pretty crystal that hung around Legola's neck in the small pouch made of interwoven hair.

Doron placed the stone in his brother's palm, closing the unresponsive fingers around it and placing the hand atop the small chest. He then stood up and leant over his brother, kissing the pale forehead before straightening. "Happy Begetting day my brother. Methinks you forgot, but I assure you that I had not. Sleep well dear one and rest assured that I love you".

And with a parting glance, Doron left the room, the door shutting behind him with a soft click.

On the bed, Legolas's forehead creased as he battled his own mind and the walls he had built around it.

_Let me out! _He yelled, or would have had he been in control of his facilities. But the walls refused to crumble and with a yell of rage, Legolas hurled himself at the wall, only to rebound.

He had to get to Doron, he had to meet his brother.

_Let me go, damn you! _He snarled at the impenetrable walls that he himself had created in the throes of agony. This Coma was his creation, his protection against the torture. But now he was out, and he wanted out. Now, this instance.

_No…_ a whisper, a fragment of a dream answered his demands. The grey walls rippled, as if they were a pond and a stone had disturbed their surface, and out stepped…Legolas.

Except this Legolas was a not Legolas, bowed and stooped by the pain that twisted his features and marred his flesh. This was the Legolas of the body, not Legolas himself. Legolas of the soul was, in comparison, a glowing paragon of health. His skin was unmarred save a light bruise near his temple and the sickly pallor of his skin. If he were to walk out now no one would guess of his hardships, that is until they saw his snow coloured hair. The hair was a give away.

Both Legolas's glared at each other.

_Let me out! _Cried the soul

_I cannot, you are safe here…outside is unsafe. You go out you will be hurt…like me. _Came the answer and to the souls horror, the body spoke in bastardised elvish mixed with the black speech.

The soul gasped at his twisted body and fled, running through the narrow alleys of the city his mind had conjured up and past windowless houses. The soul pushed past gaping phantoms of his mind as he tried to escape…

"_Happy Begetting day my brother. Methinks you forgot, but I assure you that I had not. Sleep well dear one and rest assured that I love you"._

These words penetrated the thick walls, making the soul gasp and stumble in shock. Doron! Doron was speaking to him. He was not alone!

_I love you_ Doron had said and the soul could tell that he had meant it.

_I love you_

The soul squared his shoulders and ran back to his dreadful body, Doron's loving words echoing in this grey land and pushing the phantoms away.

_I love you_

_Im coming Doron, _the soul vowed determinedly, _and my body had better watch out for I shall not take no for an answer. Those walls are coming down…whether my body likes it or not._

_I love you_

_I love you to, Doron._

And back in the small room, small and pale fingers tightened their grip on the small stone.

XXX

_Laughing…they were laughing._

_Their harsh language grating on his ears…on his very nerves._

_Pain and agony._

_His son._

_Where was he?_

Thranduil opened his eyes, the weak morning sunlight bathing the sleeping figure beside him in a soft buttery glow.

Vanriel was a balm to Thranduil's tired and aching soul, the very hint of her presence making him smile and make his day brighten. Even in her pregnancy Vanriel was the most beautiful maiden Thranduil had ever set eyes on, and he often wondered how she could love him so.

Some one knocked on the door and Thranduil groaned; surely his kingdom could survive without him for one morning? Reluctantly he slipped out of bed and pulled on a robe before opening the door.

Doron swept in uninvited.

"Where were you yesterday Adar?" He hissed without so much as a 'good morning'. Thranduil frowned; he could already feel the beginnings of a headache, it didn't help that he had no clue as to what his eldest was referring to.

"What are you talking about Doron?" he growled, "And get out before you awaken Vanriel"

Doron ignored his order, his face a tight mask of displeasure. "Where were you Adar?"

Thranduil decided to humour his son.

"I was with Vanriel".

"Why were you not with Legolas? After all it was his begetting day". Doron threw up his hands in anger when his father didn't answer. "Valar you forgot didn't you. You are so wrapped up in your new women that you forgot about your son!"

Thranduil's eyebrows drew together in a jagged lightning shape. "Who are you to question what I do?" he asked, trying to hold back his temper.

Doron lost the fragile control on his temper.

"I am you son!" He roared, waking up Vanriel. "And so is Legolas. But you don't go to him _my king_ and try to wrest him from the depths of his coma! You don't try to tempt him into the waking world. Instead you closet yourself with this hare brained whore and forget about your sons!"

"Get out, and don't you dare speak of your mother that way!" Thranduil roared, he cut an imposing figure but Doron was neither cowed nor intimidated.

"She is not my Mother!" Came the equally furious answer. "She is nothing but your new women!"

"Get out boy or so help me the guards will help you out".

"With pleasure!" Doron yelled, "I can not stand to look upon your face. You disgust me and I gladly renounce any ties of kinship with you!"

All anger fled Thranduil, leaving the King shocked and pale as he stared aghast at his son. "You cannot-"he began weakly, his voice gaining strength as he continued, "You cannot abandon your home for a rejected plaything of Orcs".

Doron spun around and shoved Thranduil into a wall; holding is father there with one strong hand.

"What possessed you to say that about Legolas?" Doron spat.

Thranduil glowered at his son, incredulous at Doron's defiance. He struggled but with no small amount of shock realised his son was a fair bit stronger then he and that he was unable to free himself from Doron's iron grip.

"Don't you dare go near Legolas or I swear Adar, King or not, I will bring you before the Sylvan elders for trial", Doron continued, voice hard. "Stay away from me and mine brother and stick to your precious new women and son".

Doron then released the King and marched to the door, his parting words chilling the King's blood. "When Legolas is fit to travel we will both leave your halls, Adar, and seek refuge in the Forester's settlement. Rest assured, you may soon wipe your hands clean of both of us, and you are no longer my Adar".

When Doron left, Thranduil collapsed to his knees, prompting a shocked Vanriel to leave the bed and encase him within her arms, rocking him soothingly. "I have lost my son", he sobbed.

"Go to him, beloved, make him stay", she murmured.

"I cannot, Sylvan law dictates that a child can chose whether or not to obey their parents, giving them free rein to disown. I have lost my children Vanriel, and there is nothing I can do".

Vanriel had no answer to that and just rocked him.

**TBC**

**Ok a lot may seem extreme but just remember that a lot can be said in the heat of anger. **


	3. Chapter 2

**I now have a grudge against science, thanks to today's horribly boring and pointless lesson about the periodic table. It was pure torture!**

Chapter 2

**Oh my brother,**

**Locked away,**

**Without any hope for escape,**

**Our shared father,**

**Does not come,**

**To whisk you away,**

**Oh why oh why,**

**Does he abandon the dusk?**

**To the cold impassive walls of those he should trust,**

**Ai but it is ever the sons who pay for the sins of the father.**

The soul shivered as a breath of foreboding wracked his grey world. Maybe the body was coming to find him; maybe he had grown tired of waiting? He thought. But no, this did not feel like something the body would do, no this was something else…something bigger and maybe, just maybe, something worse. But what could be worse then the body that locked him in?

The soul forced himself to let go of such thoughts and instead focused on getting to the wall. He had to get out, Doron needed him.

Faceless spectres reached out to stop him, gaping mouths opened to suck him into…

_No! _The soul shrieked,_ be gone! I am no longer yours!_

But it did him no good and he was sucked into the void of memories…

_I watched in horror as frost began to creep towards me from the door, tinging the walls a dull white. I scrambled further into my corner, pressing myself against the wall as if I could melt through it and escape. I couldn't of course, no matter how hard I wanted to. _

_The ice reached me, latching onto my barefoot and make me gasp with the intensity of it. It. Was. So. Cold._

_I screamed, begging it to stop…to go back._

_Anything but this._

_But it crept upwards, unheeding of my frantic attempts to dislodge it. I rubbed my hand against it, hoping to scrape it off my skin. But it just leached onto my hand, racing up my arm and turning my blood to ice. The frost burned everything that it touched, and I sobbed from both the agony and fear. It reached my neck and I choked when my breath was abruptly cut off, it continued upwards and entered my mouth…_

_I jerked and trembled…before stilling as the merciful blackness swallowed me…_

"**I love you"**

The soul gasped and shook himself free, now was not the time to indulge in memories of what the necromancer had done to him. The soul shook himself like a dog ridding himself of water before squaring his shoulders and marching grimly onwards.

XXX

"But my lord-"

"Not now Fenlass".

"But-"

"Im busy Fenlas".

"Doron! You will cease this madness now!"

Doron dumped the last of his provisions into the saddle bag, ignoring the irate cook as said cook attempted to remove the food stuff from his possession.

Doron sighed. "I have to get Legolas away from here, don't you understand? He will never heal in the caves with Adar so near yet so far".

Fenlass shook his head. "Ah foolish elfling", he rebuked softly, "The love you hold for your brother is remarkable, and I am not trying to stop you from taking the little one away from the caves. But stop and think, clear your anger from your mind, do you really think Thranduil will just let you go? And assuming he does, where will you go?"

"I will create a talan in the settlements…we will get by".

"Do you think those in the settlements will harbour the King's runaway sons?"

Fenlass took Doron's silence as consent to continue. "Wait until Legolas awakens before setting out, I sense the wait will not be long and I shall talk to the healers and gain their cooperation to delay telling the King that his son has awakened. And then we shall sneak you and your brother out of the caves".

"Where will we go?" Doron asked as he began unpacking.

"To the old talan my brother and I used to live in before he died": came the reply.

The older elf grimaced sympathetically as he noticed Doron's reluctance. "All you need is patience, my lord…patience".

XXX

The soul screamed in fury as the body rebounded his attempts to break through the walls.

_You must stay…_it gasped.

No…the soul whimpered as he felt the weight of his memories begin to crush him.

_Stay…be safe…no one can hurt you here._

You're hurting me, snarled the soul as it dragged one foot forward. Valar! It felt like he was wading through a quagmire.

_For your own good…_

The soul reached out and placed his fingers on the wall, feeling the potent energy vibrating beneath the placid looking substance.

"_I love you"._

BEGONE, shouted the soul, THOU SHALT NOT KEEP ME ANYMORE.

And it shattered, sucking the soul into the black hole on the otherside…

**TBC**

**Please review**


	4. Chapter 3

**I have news. Don't laugh, but I have just figured out how to turn on anonymous reviews.**

**I said don't laugh!**

***Stamps foot***

When Thranduil discovered them gone, it was already too late for him to do anything about it.

When the healer came to Thranduil about the news of legolas's awakening Doron and said patient were already out of the caves, tucked securely into empty flour barrels.

And when the King found out his eldest's deception and set out search parties to bring him back said eldest and his charge were out of his reach forever.

Thranduil raged for days. But it was too late.

They were gone.

He had lost them.

XXX

At first Legolas didn't respond to anything Doron did, even when they reached the hidden Talan that would be their home for the foreseeable future. The healer had warned him of this, saying that Legolas would need time to become used to the fact he was no longer prisoner in the dark tower.

At first Doron was patient, hiding his despair as he fed his cationic brother soup and gently wiping it away as it dribbled out. He stalwartly changed Legolas's soiled bedding and rinsed them in the small stream running through their clearing, chatting cheerfully all the while, waiting for the day Legolas would respond.

But the child did nothing, just staring at the wall or at the forest if Doron thought he needed a change in scenery. Eventually Doron despaired in getting a response from his brother, the constant silence grating on his nerves.

And then one day as he tried to feed his brother Doron broke down, flinging the utensils out the window and shouting at nobody, at everybody. At last he calmed down enough to take notice of his surroundings once more, and what he discovered nearly broke his heart.

Legolas stood before him sucking his little thumb, eyes dark with fear. Very slowly a silver tear traced its way down one smooth cheek.

Very hesitantly in a voice heavily accented with the dark speech Legolas whispered. "Doron?"

And without a word Doron gathered the child into his arms, their tears mingling although not once did they utter a sound.

From then on life got steadily brighter.

TBC

**I had difficulty writing this chapter in any great depth so this is what I ended up with.**


End file.
